WESTERN ISLES

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
PH
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Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
Location: Derby
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by PH »

All my holidays in the Highlands and Islands have either been May or September, I've had some great weather and some awful, but they've all been really enjoyable tours.
gloomyandy
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by gloomyandy »

I've been travelling to NW Scotland in early May for about 20 years now the last five touring the islands and things seem to be getting worse. Last year was particularly bad with really strong winds and heavy rain (bad enough that various ferries were cancelled). I've also been on holiday to Harris/Uists etc. in July and had good weather and no midges! It really is a hard call. This year I'm lucky enough to not be tied to particular dates so I plan to monitor the weather and head up there if/when it is looking good.
dodger
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Joined: 28 Jan 2007, 9:33pm
Location: East Cornwall

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by dodger »

So the consensus seems to be - suck it and see!!
Good idea to wait and see how the weather forecast is looking, especially travelling a long distance to get there.
ambodach
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Joined: 15 Mar 2011, 6:45pm

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by ambodach »

Last May on the west coast was worse than ever. Very cold and windy. I wore shorts mostly but went back to longs for a while. When I had a boat I did not bother putting it in the water until June as mostly too cold and windy to bother. Very unpredictable but the trends seem to be that the seasons are moving on a bit and May is more like April or even March used to be.
jgurney
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by jgurney »

I've been in the souther Western Isles (Barra to Bernearay) twice, but both visits were in June/July.

In good weather they are wonderful places to visit - in bad weather they have a certain charm provided you don't mind getting wet. One afternoon we rode from Bernaray to Grimsay in heavy rain, and were very pleased to find our B&B that night was owned by a couple whose son was a pro racing cyclist and who understood all about soggy clothes and panniers.

We never had any midge problems, except one occasion when my wife fell asleep in the mahair in mid-afternoon and was a sitting target.

I recommend the Gatcliffe hostels at Bernearay and Howmore (S. Uist), and Durnard hostel in Castlebay (Barra).

There are very attractive beaches that look like the Caribbean but have much colder water. Swimming on Barra, we were surprised when several cows appeared from somewhere and plunged into the water to join us. It turned out they were after the seaweed on the rocks, but for some odd bovine reason that particular herd preferred going in when there were humans around as well.
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TrevA
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by TrevA »

I enjoyed the Inner Hebrides tour we did last year. I think we only had one day of continuous rain, but it was showery and windy most days apart from one glorious day on the Ross of Mull.

We had a number of incidents along the way - we were supposed to go to Campbelltown from Ardrossan but ended up going to Brodick on Arran instead. We had a night on Iona and were supposed to be staying at the Youth Hostel, but when we got there it was double booked. My wife and I, being the only married couple, managed to get a double room in a Catholic retreat, but the rest of our party had to camp out in hired tents and sleeping bags with no washing or cooking facilities. Also, we were due catch the small rib boat ferry from Jura to Tayvallich. There were 18 in our party and the boat could only take 12, so we had to split in two and wait two hours for the boat to go across and back again. There was supposed to be a second boat laid on, but the ferryman knew nothing about it. We didn't get to the hotel in Lochgilphead until 9.30pm and it rained the whole way!
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robing
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by robing »

I did a Hebridean end to end (Vatersay to the Butt of Lewis) in September last year and was very enjoyable. After a miserable summer in Scotland, they finally had some good weather in September. May and June can often be good times to go. Re midges, there were quite a lot when I went but they are only really a problem when you are stood still for any length of time outdoors. So if you're not camping they are not really a problem. I did a mixture of camping and BnBs. I stayed at 3 Gatliffe ones - Howmore was excellent and nicely refurbished, Rhenigdale was also nice and very remote. I found Berneray a bit grubby and crowded so I camped outside. The best hostel was at the Garenin Blackhouses on Lewis. £15 a night and probably the most luxurious hostel I've stayed at. They even provide fluffy towels! And they do a great breakfast at the café.

If you are flexible when you can go, you can hopefully get a window of decent weather.
gloomyandy
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Joined: 16 Mar 2012, 10:46pm

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by gloomyandy »

re Berneray hostel. I've stayed there a number of times and in recent years it has been looking a bit grubby. But my understanding is that there was work going on late last year to spruce it up a bit. It is a fantastic location though and if you are lucky enough to share it with a good bunch can be a magical place to stay. It can get very popular though and I've been there a couple of times when it seemed a large group had taken the place over and had been there for some time. Still good fun but I prefer it at quieter times and have tended to camp when it is very busy. Oh and there are some fantastic wild camping spots scattered through the Hebrides, you just need to seek them out.
dodger
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Location: East Cornwall

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by dodger »

The hostels are a definite then.
Timing to be decided!
Therealsouthstander
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Joined: 5 Oct 2012, 9:22pm

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by Therealsouthstander »

Went a few years ago in May and hardly saw a cloud ,never mind rain. It was 28 Deg C for a few days and my daily bath was done in the sea.

Apparently it was too hot for the midges..


Amazing trip
John Holiday
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Joined: 2 Nov 2007, 2:01pm

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by John Holiday »

Several earlier mentions for Gatliffe Hostels.
They are very similar to the old style Youth Hostels,fairly basic,but in wonderful locations,& you'll no doubt meet some interesting people.
Highly recommended as part of tour of Outer Hebrides.
largeallan
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Joined: 10 Jan 2010, 2:31pm
Location: Isle of Arran

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by largeallan »

I did it last may/june.....the coldest, grimmest, wettest, wind-permanently-in-your-facest, week of my life.....soaking bodies in sleeping bags and tent that never dried out all week....I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It really is cycling country :D
robing
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Joined: 7 Sep 2014, 9:11am

Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by robing »

I think I might head up there this summer. I plan to go to Mull first and explore. Then go to Barra and the Uists.
iviehoff
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Re: WESTERN ISLES

Post by iviehoff »

rualexander wrote:Last May was unusually bad.

The unusual badness of last May was attributed to the Cold Blob, an large area of unusually cold water in the north Atlantic, located to the west of Great Britain, fed by meltwater from Greenland's glaciers, which are melting faster.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_blob_(North_Atlantic)

The bad news is that the Cold Blob shows no signs of going away, indeed seems likely to get worse. Bad Mays may become Normal Mays.
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